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University Pipe Bomb
Location: Lawrence, Kansas Date: March 28, 1991 Story We begin on March 28, 1991 in Lawrence, Kansas, as nighttime settled in on the campus of the University Of Kansas. Judy Low had been a police dispatcher for more than 5 years. "We get bomb threats all the time. But nothing ever happens. I mean, they never go off. The thing that was different about this, though, is that there was no threat ahead of time," said Low. More than 300 students lived in the JRP Dormitory at the center of the campus. By midnight, only a few of them were still awake, including security monitor Brad Stulsotz. "I had a test the next day, so I was last-minute cramming, trying to get it all in. The lobby had quieted down, most of the guys were going to bed. A normal, regular, run-of-the-mill night at JRP," recalls Stulsotz. Officer Herb Martin was one of several cops on stakeout that night, working on a series of campus auto robberies that had gone unsolved. "While I was sitting there, I saw a red car coming into the parking lot, with two individuals in it. They were sitting in it with the dome light on, so I could see both of them. But only one of them got out," said Officer Martin. The guy walked up the hill to an area of the campus where the police cars and security jeeps were parked. "As he was walking up the hill, I noticed that there was something held on the side of his leg, but I couldn't tell what it was," Officer Martin said. "It was pretty much behind our building, right where we were," said Low. Officer Martin then ran toward the parking lot to see the guy leave in his car. "He took off like he was lit with firecrackers," said Officer Martin. As he talked with police officers on his radio, he described the vehicle that was leaving the campus. "I went on back up to check the jeep, to see what this guy might have been doing," said Officer Martin. As he checked underneath it, he discovered that the assailant stuck a pipe bomb there. He then radioed for help, but no one knew whether any attempt to dismantle it might instead set it off! "We had a bomb, probably with a timer. And we didn't know how much time had been put on it. And of course that's a pretty sticky ricket, trying to figure out whether we should evacuate people from the wing of the dormitory. Would we have time?" said Officer Martin. Sergeant Skyler Bailey was at his post with his partner, Detective Mike Riner. "There's a lot of windows facing in that direction, and I could invision shrapnal from the bomb and the jeep flying through those windows," says Sergeant Bailey. Riner rushed to the scene, while Martin described what was happening. "It's in the front, over the axle," said Officer Martin. "All right, stay back!" said Riner. Officer Bob Williams was on routine patrol less than 3 blocks away, when he heard that the suspect's vehicle was headed in his direction. "I thought, this is stupid if it's him, to pull over there. I knew it had to be him," said Officer Williams. Officer Martin then gave a description of the assailant to police officers in the area. "I just asked him, 'Would you mind coming up on campus with me to the police station?' He said, 'Sure, no problem'," said Sergeant Bailey. Riner, who had experience in dealing with bombs, went back to the police station to pick up some protective gear. "He looked very determined. He just had this look on his face, like it was something he had to do," said Low. Riner managed to pull himself under the jeep in his protective gear to try to carefully dismantle the bomb. Then he put it in a grassy area and ran as fast as he could to the radio on the other side of the campus. "There's 30 seconds left on the timer. We'll know in just a little bit," said Riner. Officer Martin then instructed him to clear the area. As the two officers stood still, there was a big explosion as the bomb went off. "This is real!" said Officer Martin in a panic. "I walked back down to see what kind of damage it had caused, and I saw a crater about 3 feet in diameter, between 6 and 10 inches deep. It just all of a sudden hit me that this was real. If I had taken my time when I was upstairs getting my equipment, it could've gone off in my hand. I could've been killed. And my knees just turned to rubber, and I sat down and flopped over on my back and shook for a few seconds," said Riner. "The building shook when the bomb went off, and I was scared, I had no idea what was going on," said Stulsotz. "Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the flash, and then I heard it go off. And I know I must've jumped two feet. I looked at the kid, and he was calm and cool throughout. He just looks at me and says, 'Pardon me, sir, but just what was that?' I said something along the lines of, 'I think you know what it is, and we need to talk about it,'" said Riner. It was later determined that the people who were responsible said that they built the bomb just to see if they could do it. They said they didn't mean to hurt anybody, that wasn't their intention. They wanted it to be a big deal, and it was. They've both been convicted, and they both got 27 or 28 months in a penitentiary. Riner was awarded the University Of Kansas Police Department's medal of valor. "A lot of people told me that what I did was stupid, and that I was crazy. I really couldn't see that there was any other choice," said Riner. "What he did goes against most training, but I know why he did it. Here's an explosive device, placed under a vehicle that has a gas tank, parked not that far from a dormitory where there are a couple hundred kids sleeping. Mike's a hero," says Sergeant Bailey. "This is the first time I think it was really hammered home to me that you could be here today and gone tomorrow. You could be killed. I got my first grey hair two weeks after this, and promptly plucked it out!" exclaimed Riner. Category:1991 Category:Kansas Category:Bombings Category:Explosions